A MILK DEPOT

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 79, 27 December 1907, Page 8

A MILK DEPOT

,will wellington provide it? 'some reasons in favour; .' Apart from tho oxclusion of tuborculbus germs, which kill'over 700 New Zealanders •every year, the suggested provision of a propor cool receiving depot for tho .milk which arrives at Wellington for the milk vendors iis jjustified by tho 1 prevalence of hydatids, tJiio gorms of which may bo blown into opon milk cans in the dusts' of tho streets. - ■ Eight dogs out of every ton in New Zealand are stated %'tho Chief Government Veterinarian to contaminato our streets with hydatid eggs. In his annual report of 1905 h'e says that frequently in New Zealand ho has observed dogs infested with tho tape worms from which hydatids are derived. " Often tho only indication of the" presence iof these parasites," says the report, "is the iitching which compels tho animal to rub his hindquarters along the ground. As ior •dogs' on stations and sheep farms, they .ate, bound to be nearly always affected with trnie worms, seeing that they are usually ted on the plucks of sheep killod for station use, or portions of animals found dead m paddocks. It may be taken that 80 per cent, of tho dogs in New Zealand are suffering from tape worm, and as ,a result are continually voiding segments full of oggs, each of which is capable of producing- hydatid disease in eithor man or tho lower animals. Tho segmonts undergo degeneration and liborate tho eggs. A small percentage ultimately reach the alimentary canal of man, cattle, or. sheep, enter the .blood stream, and become deposited in some organ, whore, especially in the uase of man, they work irreparable damage, and frequently cause death." Thousands of welcss dogs aro kept in this counsry, ho auds, to contaminate tho water supply, l and mcny cases of hydatid .disease in children bowii been traced to their habit of kissing ipot dogs, or allowing dogs to lick their faces. iThe description given by Mr. Wilkinson at Featherston (reported in last Saturdays Dominio-n) of milk being poured from cum to can in'a high dust near tho Wellington Government Railway Station, has an ominous signi.ficanco when wo learn that eight out of tea of tho dogs that run along Lambton Quay and Thorndon havo contaminated that very dust with the eggs of hydatids It is, no .doubt, unavoidable that milk shall at various \times be poured from one can to another, and if the peoplo of Wellingto:; • do not provide a proper placo whore such, work can 'be safely carried on, they have only themselves to thank for what they and their children drink. But thoro '. are other defects, in which the milk suppliers themselves can'provide tho remedy.. Why do not the delivery men provide shadeSs over thoir, carts? ,The much-despised 'man who 'hawks truit in the .streets has his, cart covered with an awning. Tho cart which brings you your 'weoklv jar of igingerfbeer is also well shaded. ' But tho contain milk, tho most perishable of all'.foods, in many casos.are carted round exposed right out to.tho blazing sun. Thoro can bo only one explanation' of this extraordinary state of affairs.' Damago to fruit by tho sun becomes visible- to the eyes of: tho buyers, and the trade falls off. • Heat on ginger-beer jars might make itself known ■ by tho popping of corks or tho bursting of earthenware. Bat there are no tell-tale results with milk,; and the damago is securely hidden. Thero is room for great improvement here.' '. ' ■ '■'.'"' Why; again, aro not tho milk cans provided witl? taps, so that tho, supply could beipoufed/bft without exnosuro of the rest of: the contents. Under, the present system the windj. with its dust and microbes, has access to tho contents of tho can at every house; in tho round. A tap, it is true, would 'itself become contaminated,_ but ordinary 'oleSnlin'oss would set this right, and a tap would, after all, not -bo. ljkoly to be more dangerous than tho tin dipper. The straight, milk ■ con,'with no hidden corners to escape the eye of the man. who cleans it, will, no doubt, become more com,mon when a receiving 'depot is provided. At the present time, with nowhere but the streets to operato in, it'is, perhaps, just as well that the tops, of the cans are as narrow, ■as possible.